To See if It Could be Done
by ChocolateCherryGenesis
Summary: They tried to create a super-ninja, a leader worth following, just to see if it could be done. And they succeeded. A young, blond, ramen-loving boy was chosen to take his former name and publicly rejoin the Leaf Village. Just to see if it was worth doing.


**Story**: To See if It Could be Done

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Naruto_.

**Author**: ChocolateCherryGenesis

**Summary**: They tried to create a super-ninja, a leader worth following, just to see if it could be done. And they succeeded. A young, blond, ramen-loving boy was chosen to take his former name and publicly rejoin the Leaf Village. Just to see if it was worth doing.

**Published**: Saturday, September 29, 2012

**Notes**: This is the third chapter I've published in the last hour or so, so I think I'm doing pretty good. Anyway, please enjoy.

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**Chapter One**

Forest Academy Student: Fox

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_Before the others in his class had realized what had happened, he had already given the sealed documents to his class teacher. After all, he couldn't fail this mission. He was Fox, strongest ninja in the Forest Academy._

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A blond-haired boy ran speedily through the twenty acres of forest that the Forest Academy owned, hopping from tree branch to tree branch with ease.

His blue eyes narrowed and suddenly darted to both sides. Though his schoolmates were good, he was not the top of his class for nothing. He could see the blurs of their forms against the outlines of the trees that entered his vision and swiftly left it behind as he ran forward.

Still, he had to applaud them. It was only his trained senses that allowed him to catch them.

He caught a slight flicker in the blurs that now surrounded him. The boy suddenly paused with a suddenness that made the leaves around him flutter to the ground as if in an avalanche. Then the boy brought his arms close to himself and crouched down to maximize his momentum, leaping high into the trees and allowing the shuriken that had been aimed straight for him to clatter against each other.

He smirked. _Too easy._

As the ninja behind him smoothly changed into another formation––this one designed for sweeping an area instead of surrounding a moving target––the boy turned his head away and put on another burst of speed. If he hurried enough, he might complete the objective before they even caught up, minimizing chances of failure and finishing his mission much more effectively. After all, it is much harder to catch a ninja when you have not seen a clear shot of him.

Almost before he knew it, he arrived at a wooden shack. Glancing around, he reassured himself that he was the first person there. Good. He ran toward the shack and flattened himself to the floor, tapping the wood with his knuckles in places patiently before sitting up victoriously. Aha! There it was!

He opened the trap door and dropped inside, pulling the rug back over the floor above with a tug of his hands, the shine of fading sunlight making the hair-thin ninja wire temporarily visible in the gloom. No one would find the shack disturbed. That should buy him a few extra minutes, and they would leave a few ninja behind just in case he had not come down here.

He bolted through the silent cement tunnels, dirt everywhere around him. He finally came to a door on the side of one of the tunnels and cautiously looked through the keyhole. Darn! An extra guard! This time it was a Chūnin rank teacher. Not good, but at least it was not a Jōnin. A Genin would have been ideal, though.

The boy placed his back to the wall at the side of the door, peeking in again. Bookcases covered the walls and a metal safe was on the floor. _No . . . _the boy thought. _Too obvious. That can't be it. _He rerouted chakra to his eyes, hoping to sense something else. For a few precious moments, he stood there as silent and still as a statue, before his eyes widened. _There it is! In the desk!_

He crossed the index and middle fingers of both hands, internally gathering chakra and shaping it. _Shadow Clone Jutsu! _Then, appearing out of thin air, an exact duplicate of the boy appeared in front of him before it leaned against the wall on the other side of the door.

The boy smirked. Good. The Shadow Clone Jutsu was his most flexible technique and he had become famous among his classmates and teachers for it. Since very few people could use the technique without wasting all their chakra, it was his signature move. However, the Chūnin that participated in the Training Missions always pretended to know nothing of the students in order to take the place of "enemy ninja" in the Training Missions. Sometimes, however, they had to add the chance of enemy ninja having information into the simulation, causing an alarm to go off as he performed the jutsu. It seemed this mission was fairly straightforward.

The Shadow Clone held up his hand in a fist, pointing to himself and making a slashing motion before pointing to the original and making a grasping motion. That much was already obvious. The Shadow Clone would provide a distraction for the Chūnin while the real ninja would break into the desk drawer and take the documents.

Then the Clone pointed toward the door and himself, holding up five fingers. The original nodded.

One finger went down, Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

The Clone suddenly kicked the locked door open, charging toward the Chūnin and temporarily blocking the Chūnin's vision of the door. Taking advantage of this, the original snuck behind his Clone and jumped onto the ceiling.

The Clone was silent, holding a shuriken in both hands and throwing them at the Chūnin. The Chūnin dodged, but that only made the Clone smirk. They faced off against each other, circling carefully.

On one side of the underground storage room was a Chūnin with a blue bandana with the Forehead Protector of the Leaf attached, with a stand-issue Chūnin protective jacket on top of a black shirt. At his side was a weapons pouch and on his back was a giant shuriken. He was obviously skilled in long-range fighting. Otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to carry the heavy giant shuriken, which would only get in his way if he was a close-range fighter.

On the other side was the Clone. He hadn't bothered to Henge his appearance into someone else, taking his normal appearance. His hair was a bright blond and his eyes were a striking blue. A plain black cloth facemask covered everything from his nose down to his neck. His clothes were black as well, his long sleeved shirt covered with white bandages at his wrists to halfway to his elbow to keep the cloth out of the way. On his hands were a pair of fingerless gloves with a rectangular metal piece held in place on the backs of his hands. His pants were slightly billowy, but also held with white bandages at the ankles to keep it from getting in the way. Many ninja kept a few secret shuriken hidden on their lower legs under the bandages in case their weapons pouches fell off. His standard design ninja sandals were also black. Lastly was a black cord around his neck with a orange fox face hanging off it.

While the Chūnin was fighting the Clone, the original had already taken the document and withdrawn. It wasn't long before he had found another way out (the tunnels were rather long and there were many different ways in and out). Before the others in his class had realized what had happened, he had already given the sealed documents to his class teacher. After all, he couldn't fail this mission. He was Fox, strongest ninja in the Forest Academy.

[] [] [] [] []

Fox stood with his two teammates, each of them holding a packet of papers sealed within a Sealing Scroll. "Good," he said, beaming. "We all have the documents! Did you get a Chūnin Guard too?"

"You better believe it!" his teammate Dog shouted. "But no one can match the power of me and Red Fang here!"

"My documents were also guarded by a Chūnin," the other teammate, Bug, offered emotionlessly.

Fox smiled. "Good! I guess that means that we're doing pretty good! Even if we can't always beat Chūnin in a one-on-one fight, I bet with the whole squad we could go on Class B and C level missions. Y'know, the Chūnin ones."

They had already walked through the outer gates in the back of the Forest Academy, technically in "allied territory," and so the Training Mission was over. The Forest Academy itself was beautiful. No one would think at first glance that ninja trained here and commonly set off explosions. This was probably why the twenty-acre forest was used for most training, to preserve the Forest Academy itself.

Bug wore a brown-colored pair of trousers and a cream-colored shirt, whose collar covered his mouth and whose sunglasses covered his eyes. Built into the frame of the sunglasses was a small camera and radio system, which connected to the ones under Fox's facemask and in Dog's earrings.

Dog herself wore a white-colored dress with slits in the sides, a white pair of trousers underneath. Her eyes were a strange silver color. Around her waist was a black sash, which had an impossible amount of weapons hidden in its folds, as well as a sword sheath. Around her shoulders was a hooded black cloak that reached almost toward the ground, face hidden except for her cheeks, which had her Clan's fang symbols. On her back was her best weapon, her Scythe.

Her dog, Red Fang, was black except for his paws, which were white. He was tall for his age, already coming up to her waist. Hanging from one of his ears was a red-colored fang. Dog herself had a matching red fang hanging from either ear.

The black-clothed Fox looked around him, still a bit wary. The teachers had been known to spring traps on students who let down their guard after the End-of-Year Exams, after all. As the top-ranking team, they were the most likely to be targeted.

The entire Forest Academy was in a rough circle around a large fountain with a Memorial Stone in the center. The walkways were bricked, and various trees were randomly situated on the grass. Flowers were everywhere, many medical nin in Level 1 and 2 tending them as practice for the more rare plants they would come across in real life and Classes on Level 3.

The Forest Academy's main building was right there in front of him, to the right. It was three stories high, with Village Academy-level students (1) on the first floor, Genin-level students on the second floor, and Chūnin-level students on the third.

On each individual floor, at the end of each year, the more advanced students were shuffled closer to Class A and the new students were placed in Class F. The better the ninja, the higher the floor and class.

Each team was also ranked in each classroom, the best being Team 1 and the worst being Team 5. Team 1 of the class is considered the team with the highest scores and the highest abilities. The other four teams all look toward Team 1 for instruction and support. Whenever an entire floor has to do something together, the Team 1 from each classroom will meet and represent their own class.

There were always fifteen students in each class, six classes on each floor, and of course three floors. The Forest Academy always had two hundred and seventy students in the Academy and ninety Teams, making up for graduated students by accepting the same number as those who left each year. (2)

There were various other buildings, but I will describe those later if I have the need.

To concentrate on the main building, all children on the same floor took an End-of-Year Exam. The End-of-Year Exam was to see if a person was ready to go up a floor or if, as it was for those on the third floor, they were ready to graduate. The End-of-Year Exam always consisted of a written test, an individual Training Mission, and a team Training Mission.

Having already completed the written tests, they had just taken their individual Training Missions, and they were ready to take their team Training Mission a week later. Even though they divided the forest into parts, there were hundreds of students that needed to take their Training Missions, so it always took a while.

Fox's team went by three different names. The first was Red Fang, named after Dog's nin-dog. The second was Team Fox, after their leader. The third was their official title, Team 3-A-1. Level 3, Class A, Team 1. The best team in the highest class on the top floor. The best team of ninety, and the three best students out of two hundred and seventy.

Let's just say that you really didn't want to make them angry, even if their laid-back personalities made that pretty hard to do in the first place.

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The Jōnin-sensei for Class 3-A smirked, before he started cackling evilly. "Even if they managed to pass the individual Training Missions, they'll have to fall to my newest team Training Mission simulation!" he exclaimed, a burst of lightning crashing behind him despite the sunny day it was outside. His hands were raised into the air and he was obviously unaware of how creepy he was acting.

"Yo," Fox said with a deadpan look, sitting on the windowsill.

The Jōnin-sensei squawked. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded.

Fox, Dog, and Bug had been his best students––and also his worst.

They each had their specialty. Bug was good at academics, Dog was good at strength and speed training, and Fox was good at jutsu. And they all trained together. So they _never seemed to do anything wrong. _And they liked to play pranks at the request of their team leader, Fox, who insisted that there was some sort of academic reason for it.

You can see where this is going.

The Jōnin-sensei had made an agreement with them, daring them to do something no one had ever done before. If they could pass the End-of-Year Exams with perfect marks, he would teach them each an A-Rank Jutsu _and _ he could pay Fox's ramen bills for a whole month. A whole _month_.

When the Jōnin had seen them all answer all three hundred questions perfectly, and then complete the individual Training Missions perfectly, he had decided to personally design the traps in the team Training Mission himself, instead of having a Chūnin do it.

They'd entered the forest ten minutes ago.

"What on earth are you made of?!" he shrieked.

Fox ignored him. "Here's your Chūnin," he said, carrying the before unnoticed Chūnin by the back of his green vest into the room and putting him down on the chair. "Rescue mission completed."

"AAAARG!"

The shout from the Jōnin instructor echoed throughout the Academy's whole twenty acres.

[] [] [] [] []

Fox grinned under his mask as he stood in front of the Principal in his office, waiting to graduate.

It was not often that students were allowed into the Principal's office, and so Fox looked around a bit while trying to remain motionless. The room itself was circular, being the top floor of the cylindrical tower held just for the Principal and the teachers. The floor was wooden, with a large and soft red rug overtop. The polished ancient desk in the middle of the room was in front of the different graduating squads, the Principal standing behind it. Various Jōnin and Chūnin stood behind the Principal at attention.

All around the edges of the room were bookcases, holding not just books but many interesting weapons. Some of the bookcases were made for scrolls, having square-shaped holes to stuff scrolls into instead of regular shelves––which caused scrolls to fall right off. Those scrolls held different Jutsu collected by the Principal and protected by him for the sake of teaching the students. The ceiling held a small pattern of circles near the center, like a snowflake.

After a long, boring speech, the Principal finally arrived toward the end of it. "––And for the first time in the Forest Academy's history, a team graduated with perfect marks! Please congratulate Team 3-A-1, Team Red Fang!"

The other students politely clapped, most of them also either using some variety of cloth face masks, wooden masks, porcelain masks, a few large hats here and there, sunglasses, bandannas, and face-hiding jutsus. Not to mention Henges or Puppets.

"As you are well aware," the Principal said after a few moments, "You will all be sent into the Leaf Village to join the Chūnin forces under the sponsorship of your respective classroom teacher. You will of course follow the rules of conduct within the Village. I understand some of you will be understandably nervous, having been kept secret and safe within the Forest Academy for many years, but the Village is a peaceful place. I'm sure you'll all feel right at home and you are always welcome to visit here if you so wish."

Many students did visit or remain at the Academy, furthering their training before venturing into the outside world. Almost all teachers were former students, who were loyal enough to their Alma Mater to teach the next generation.

"Nevertheless," the Principal continued. "I'm sure that you will all make us proud! Please come forward for your diplomas, Forehead Protectors, and assignments."

Squad by squad, three by three, students walked up to the Principal, accepted their diplomas, walked over to their respective teachers, received their Forehead Protectors, and then filed over toward the table in the corner to accept their forms which stated where and who would be responsible for their further teaching.

All except Team Red Fang.

"What is going on?" Dog questioned with a frown, hand starting to move toward her weapons pouch in a way that was hidden by her shifting her feet. Why would the Principal not give them an assignment? Strange. And strange was all right, but this was an unpredictable strange. Those were never good.

The other students had already left, which allowed the Principal to answer them without worrying about curious ears. Young ninja were often the most troublesome kind. The younger they were, the more they used ninja techniques for strange and at times comical things.

"Your assignment is very different from usual," the Principal said, taking a moment to sit at his desk and scratch his beard. "Usually, we place students directly in the Leaf Village ninja system, but the Forest Academy Council has been curious about something."

"What would that be?" Bug asked.

"Well, imagine this. Most Genin have no real experience, unlike you. They go to the Village Academy, unlike you. And they have no structured system after they reach the Genin level, having only the authority of a single Jōnin-sensei, while you are watched and taught until you reach the Chūnin level, or thereabouts."

"We already know all this!" Dog said, hands on her hips with Red Fang barking in agreement. "So what?"

"Well," the Principal coughed, a bit surprised at her lack of respect, "The Genin usually don't have much of a role model to look up to, other than their Jōnin-sensei, who is so much higher in abilities and age that it is difficult to find any common link between the sensei and student. The Council thought that if they sent you, Village Academy-aged students with near-Chūnin abilities and discipline, it would inspire the Genin to train more, become more disciplined themselves."

Fox's eyes widened. No. No way. Being sent to the easy-going Village Academy wouldn't teach him anything. And he would have to spend months, perhaps a whole year, before he could take Chūnin-level missions. This was definitely not good. How was he going to become Hokage if he was going to waste an entire year babysitting Academy-level students?!

"We of course had to acquire permission from the Hokage, but you will be enrolled into the last year of the Village Academy, where your age group normally belongs. You have about a month before their Genin Exam, in which case you will go along the normal path of becoming a Chūnin, instead of a direct promotion. This will hopefully show the Genin students that it is possible to be stronger than they currently are. The Hokage was a bit unwilling, though he eventually disagreed. Be sure to be very impressive."

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(1) What might be a little confusing is the references to two different Academies. There is the canon Academy, and then the one in the story. To clarify, unless it's really clear, I'll refer to the canon Academy in the manga as the "Village Academy" and then the Academy I made up as the "Forest Academy."

(2) Feel free to ask questions, since the ranking system is a little confusing.

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_To Be Continued . . . _

_Please Review_


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